What is the Value of One Hour?
May 23, 2023
When I was 21 years old a gentleman asked me what I thought the value of an hour was. At that point, I honestly did not know how to answer the question. He went on to teach me one of the most valuable lessons I have ever learned.
He suggested that the value of an hour was priceless. When this confused me some, here is what he went on to tell me this:
If you invest one hour each day in understanding yourself and your environment better, you will accumulate nine 40-hour weeks over the course of a year! As you can imagine I was blown away when he put it to me that way. Nine 40-hour weeks? This seemed impossible until I did the math. 365 days multiplied by one hour each is…yep, nine 40-hour weeks!
He went on to ask me how well I would be able to do something if I did it all day, every day for just over two months. Well you already know the answer to that…I could be awesome!
He went on to tell me that over the course of just five years I would have invested the equivalent of 1825 hours of focus on whatever I desired to accomplish in my life.
Imagine for a minute how incredible you could become at anything you did for one hour each day for the next year.
How physically fit could you get? How much more love could you give and receive? How much more money could you earn?
Let me suggest that one hour is a small price to pay in comparison to the payoff.
Just one hour each day may just be the razor’s edge you need to really get the results you want in your life.
For me the decision was easy. I have been studying human potential and the mind for over 20 years. Each time I think I’m getting a good handle on it, I am gently reminded of how much there is to observe and learn.
Is getting what you want in life worth one hour a day? I certainly hope so.
Regardless of the success I have achieved in my life, I still manage to set aside my hour to read motivational stories or listen to inspirational people. They are the fuel for my mind and it keeps me learning and yearning for more.
Please adopt an hour a day for yourself!
Pick one area of your life that you want to improve and commit the next 90 days to that one thing.
I assure you that the results you achieve will be well worth the decision!
And remember…you can’t get out of this life more than you put into it.
Quiet Strength, Quiet Leader, Quiet Winner
May 22, 2023
Tony Dungy, quiet leader, coach of the Indianapolis Colts and the winning coach of Super Bowl XLI, is the fifth leader to take a place in my personal Quiet Leader Hall of Fame.
With this profile, Coach Dungy joins a distinguished group of leaders that includes:
Granted, it feels like an unusual choice to me to propose a sports hero as a Quiet Leader of note. Nevertheless, I was moved by his leadership and approach when I read his autobiography, Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, & Priorities of a Winning Life. He may be the ideal Quiet Leader role model, a contemporary figure who is very public about his quiet approach, his faith, and his success. I’m not alone in my admiration. Time Magazine in 2007 named Dungy to their list of “The 100 Most Influential People in the World.”
In 1972, I was a student at the University of Minnesota when Tony arrived on campus to play football and basketball. As a member of the U of M Football Marching band, I watched from the sidelines as Dungy grew as the quarterback/leader of the Golden Gophers. I was a Dungy fan in those early days when I knew nothing of his leadership approach. I only knew that he was a winner.
Dungy reconnected with Minnesota in 1992 when he returned to become the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings. I remember thinking at the time as I enjoyed listening to Dungy on sports talk radio thinking how I would prefer Dungy to be the Vikings head coach. It wouldn’t happen at Minnesota.
Dungy left Minnesota to become the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and it was in this this role where his style, unique in the football world, become public and prominent. Let’s explore his leadership from using snippets of his book.
On Vision
“The first step toward creating an improved future is developing the ability to envision it. Only vision allows us to transform dreams of greatness into the reality of achievement through human action.”
On his quiet approach
I don’t yell a lot. In fact yelling will be rare,” … if my voice at this level won’t get your attention, and you believe you need someone to yell at you to correct you or motivate you, then we’ll probably need to find you another team to play for so that you can play your best.”
Accountability
“Take Ownership No excuses, no explanations.”
Family Balance
In his book, Tony stresses the importance of family and life balance. He cites that football is only a game. But tells the team directly at the beginning of every season, ” I want each guy to understand this his family is his first priority.”
Albert Einstein provides a quote that nicely underscores the Dungy approach,
Try not to become a man of success but rather a man of value.
A great summary of the quiet leadership style of Tony Dungy.
Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly.
Don
100 Simple Ways to Change Your Life for the Better
May 10, 2023
No matter how perfect you may think you are, the fact this there’s always some small way you can improve upon yourself. Whether it’s broadening your knowledge or reducing your impact on the earth, there are seemingly endless little things you can do to make a change for the better. Here, we’ll discuss 100 of these steps, and how you can go about doing them.
Health
Good health is the foundation of a good life, so make these improvements, and they’ll resonate out to the rest of your life.
- Eat breakfast every morning: Eating breakfast is important for your health and mental power, supplying essential vitamins, minerals, and energy for your day.
- Get a good night’s rest: You just can’t have a happy and productive life if you’re tired all of the time, so get some quality shut eye.
- Drink water: Step up your water intake to lose weight, feel better, and improve your skin.
- Eat slowly: Slow down when you eat, and you’ll find that you consume less while still feeling satisfied.
- Cut down on junk food: Junk food has a nasty way of bringing your health down, so avoid it whenever possible, opting instead for healthy food like fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Practice good dental hygiene: Researchers have found that dental hygiene is important for more than cosmetic reasons-it can help you chew food and even avoid heart disease.
- Drink tea: Be sure to check out the powerhouse of benefits that tea can deliver, which includes improved memory and prevention of ills such as cavities, cancer, and heart disease.
- Get some exercise: Whether you need to lose weight or not, exercise will have a positive effect on your overall health and quality of life.
- Improve your energy: If you’re feeling sluggish all day, chances are you’re just not going to feel good about yourself. So take a few steps to boost your energy, and you’ll be better in your daily life.
- Intensify your workouts: Researchers have found that by doing more intense workouts, you can enjoy similar benefits that you would with a more relaxed workout for a longer period of time.
- Enjoy fish a few times a week: Eat fish, and you’ll get a serving of Omega-3 fatty acids, which can help reduce heart disease.
- Wear better shoes: Don’t torture your toes with restrictive shoes all the time-limit the amount of time you spend in uncomfortable shoes.
- Protect your skin: Stay out of the sun to avoid skin damage, or use sunblock to help.
- Eat at home: It’s easier and cheaper to prepare healthy foods on your own at home, and skillfully cooking a meal is sure to impress just about anyone.
- Get tested for prediabetes: Diabetes is a disease that many Americans are susceptible to, and by discovering it early on you can prevent it or lessen its impact.
- Take a daily walk: Get a little bit of movement and clear your mind with a walk every day.
- Lose weight: One of the best things you can do for your health and overall quality of life is to shed a few pounds.
Mental
Improve your mind by taking these simple steps.
- Go back to school: Continuing your education does not have to be a complicated endeavor. Take an online class, or just a weekend seminar.
- Read classic books: Improve your mind by finally picking up all those books you were supposed to read in school.
- Plan: Always have a plan for your life, so you’ll know what you’re working toward.
- Quit procrastinating: Resolve to get moving, and you’ll find that you have much more time than you originally realized.
- Get inspired by a book: Read a book that will help you spark positive changes in your life.
- Learn from your mistakes: Don’t let mistakes get you down. Instead, consider what you did wrong, and how you can avoid doing so again in the future.
- Stop worrying: Let go of worry, and know that the future will come no matter what you do about it.
- Learn to play a musical instrument: Pick up a guitar, or even a harp, to improve your mental capacity and have something fun to do.
- Work to your own advantage: Improve upon what you can, and let the rest fall away.
- Think slowly: Instead of jumping to conclusions, carefully calculate what a situation means. Doing so can help you save relationships that might be damaged by rash thinking
- Participate in a debate: Have a rational discussion with someone of similar intellect to improve your knowledge.
- Learn a new language: Broaden your horizons by learning how to speak a new language.
- Visit Wikipedia: Spend some time on Wikipedia learning lots of interesting facts you’ve never realized before.
5 Tips to Professional Development & Career Advancement
April 17, 2023
Professional development is critical to career advancements in the form of promotions, raises and new opportunities. A continuous quest to learn new skills and techniques is important, because it is through these new abilities that you will position yourself for offers of greater responsibilities and leadership tasks in the workplace. For example, since most advanced leadership positions come with profit and loss responsibility (if you’re in marketing), you would benefit greatly if you became familiar with financial forecasting and planning. Armed with some financial acumen, you may be able to manage an entire marketing campaign — not only in relation to leads and sales, but also in relation to the overall profitability of a project.
So, how does someone go about learning these new skills and developing professionally? Well, the default answer — and it’s usually a good one — is to visit your human resources officer and explore any professional development paths offered at your company. Certainly, this is a great place to look, but if access to this professional development knowledge were simple, everyone would be in charge — right? Additionally, what about smaller organizations in which HR departments are not as advanced or even available? Follow these suggestions for seeking out viable professional development opportunities and take matters into your own hands.
I. Business Networking Events
Before you rush out to sign up for all the big industry conferences and seminars, consider a look in your own backyard, as you will often find an array of networking and business development events. Local chamber of commerce functions, for instance, are great places to meet new contacts who can help expand your business horizons and knowledge base or provide prospective leads for your organization.
Special-interest venues, such as venture capital forums, provide opportunities to meet new people and foster new business knowledge and skills. These avenues are also far more convenient and may be more attractive to your employer than it would be to send you to the big out-of-town national workshop. If your organization has not suggested that you attend one of the bigger out-of-town deals, asking for a four-figure budget (registration, plane ticket, hotel, meals, etc.) may be met with some doubt, particularly if it seems like an excuse to party on the company’s dime rather than to build new relationships and business skills. Your organization may have a more flexible budget for the occasional luncheon and could be more receptive to you being away from the office for two hours than for two days.
Even if your employer will not front the bill for these events, they are affordable enough for an individual and can be well worth the investment. Of course, if some real professional development arises from these smaller local events, it may be easier to get the company to send you out to Las Vegas for a national session.
II. Hit the Books
Bookshelves are teeming with books and periodicals that can help your professional development. More often than not, you simply have to look to the New York Times’ best-seller list to find a handful of the most current business and professionally focused reading material to peruse. Another idea is to specifically identify an area you would like to work on and select a book that addresses that subject. Reading one book per month will greatly improve your knowledge and your professional skills. Many of these books are relatively easy reading, and don’t feel discouraged if some of the material is not immediately processing or if you are struggling to apply the new techniques at work. Situations will arise, weeks or months after reading the book, to trigger the knowledge.
It’s also wise to not force your new knowledge into work situations. In most cases, even though you are excited to apply the fruits of your reading, when the application is forced, you may take actions that you don’t fully understand, which is bad. Additionally, it may bother people, especially when they see you reading a book and a week later you are spewing quotes as if you are the new master of all. Finally, consider subscribing to a couple of special-interest trade magazines or journals that fit the bill — they often provide consistent reading and are a great source for professional development ideas.
III. Back to School
Going back to school to get your master’s degree is certainly not a bad idea, but it may not be the answer for many of us. To save some money and to remain employed, visit the local universities or community colleges in your area — many offer evening or weekend courses that cover many topics, from business management to web site development or check Online MBA Schools.
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